This invention relates to integrated circuits such as programmable logic device integrated circuits, and more particularly, to guard ring structures for programmable logic devices and other integrated circuits.
Integrated circuits often contain multiple sections of circuitry. Each section produces noise that could potentially interfere with the operation of nearby sections. It is therefore often desirable to isolate sections of circuitry to reduce the propagation of noise. Traditional techniques for isolating sections of circuitry on an integrated circuit include using guard rings to reduce the propagation of noise between sections of circuitry.
Some traditional integrated circuits also contain power decoupling capacitors that stabilize power supply voltages in the integrated circuits. These capacitors tend to be bulky, however, leading to underside consumption of available area on an integrated circuit.